NSF REU Site Program in Membrane Applied Science and Technologyat the University of CincinnatiColleges of Medicine, Engineering, Pharmacy, and Arts & SciencesProf. Ronald W. Millard, Program DirectorProf. Joel R. Fried, Program Co-Director

The NSF REU Site Program in Membrane Applied Science and Technology (Award # EEC-0647677) at the University of Cincinnati engages undergraduate students in a 10-week summer full-time in-residence research training and professional seminar program in cross-cutting, interdisciplinary technology and applications of membrane science. Applicants intending to pursue advanced graduate degrees in science or engineering and to eventually join the next generation of US scientific and academic leaders will receive priority admission consideration. Current sophomores and juniors receive priority, as do applicants from non-UC institutions where research opportunities for students are limited. Graduating seniors are ineligible. Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents. Women and underrepresented minorities are strongly encouraged to apply. The program will begin June 15, 2009 and end August 21, 2009.

The professional development program includes faculty mentored student research project within a well funded faculty research program, a weekly research seminar with such topics as laboratory safety (chemical, biological, fire, radioactive materials), experimental design and statistics, laboratory methods and techniques, and intellectual property and technology transfer. Emphasis is placed on ethics in science and engineering, and includes a half-day team-based problem-solving cooperative workshop. A seminar series provides students with an orientation to advanced degree programs in science and engineering. The "Communicating Science and Engineering Research Discoveries" component includes a series of guided technical writing assignments and final technical research project report, oral research project presentations, and a faculty juried poster competition. A diverse social program connects trainees with one another, with trainees in other summer programs, and to points of interest in greater Cincinnati. Participants in the program are encouraged to engage in discovery research within their faculty-directed research programs leading to co-authored presentations and publications that make significant contributions to the field of membrane applied science and technology.